Tämä teksti on osa Työelämäblogi -sarjaa, jossa AYY:n yhteistyöyritykset kertovat toimialoistaan, toiminnastaan ja työllistymismahdollisuuksistaan.
My typical day at work starts by climbing in bus 65A at Lauttasaari and grabbing my knit work as I head to Pasila – my morning ritual for zoning into what is there to come. The zoning in is important since there is little routine I go through during the day. I build it up according to the tasks at hand starting from when I work, where I work and even partly with whom I work. I think that is what being in ICT leadership trainee program at Elisa is about. The freedom over how you do your job and responsibility to make the most out of your work with the skills you have.
Then what is it that I am responsible for? As a research analyst, I seek and meet researchers. Dozens of them, from all over the globe. It is like weekly TED talks except with scholars I have picked and who expect me to ask questions about their research and accomplishments. Could you describe once more how your group measures pain? How much video footage is needed to determine whether a person has Alzheimer’s? What topics did you cover during your speech at the White House? From quantum mechanics to education, most likely the researcher has had his or her first contact with Elisa through me or one of the twenty plus alumni of this program. And since our team is not granted a budget for flying to Australia (for now), meetings are more or less video dependant, which means possibilities like wearing college pants and collar shirt when interviewing, going napping after team meeting, booking gym class in the middle of the day and so forth. My job is where my laptop is and my office fits into my backpack.
As my job is about warping between time zones, why do I decide to knit in a bus? I come to the Pasila office not only for the great view over the crappy looking railway area from fifth floor, but to meet my co-workers and fellow trainees like Nhung from startup team (a startup analyst who is doing the same job described above with the exception that researchers are replaced with startups and TED talks with pitching nights). They make me laugh and are inspiring to work with. People here are really into what they do and willing to loan their expertise when you need help. To my fortune, I have to meet new business owners, managers and directors almost every single week when introducing them to the researchers. It has been a surprising journey to learn what services Elisa produces and under what job descriptions people work here.
Meeting people inside Elisa has some huge perks to be realized when I move to the second part of my 8-month trainee program. After my 4 months with the researchers, multiple doors will open leading to the advanced period of my choice. The question then is where exactly in Elisa? As I discover new possibilities, my manager Kimmo matches my interest to the needs of our business owners in order to find out what would be that something I crave to do. We have meetings every week discussing not only the continuation after research work but also what I like about my job (mashing up insight from researchers to form a bigger picture), what I detest about the job (finding room from his calendar), in which areas I want to develop professionally (making digital service business bloom) and also some miscellaneous stuff (how our cats are doing).
Next, I am looking for more responsibilities and new challenges in my second part of the trainee period and therefore leaving behind some research projects that need care and nurturing. Apply if interested or at least try your luck and come say hi at Elisa’s stand at Slush 2015 in case I’m there. We hire three times per year to the trainee program. The next batch of trainees will arrive in January 2016: the time when I’ll be finishing my knitting (red socks with RailsGirls logo in front). If there wasn’t enough perks presented in the text below but you’re keen on keeping your toes warm, describe the socks you want in the cover letter and I’ll think about it.
Pia Andersin
Research Analyst Trainee at Elisa
Student of Information and Service Management at Aalto BIZ
